The scenery of the residence in Lin’an had been modified, while this one in the Capital was designed after numerous discussions between Ye Yaming and a Jiangnan garden architecture team.

Many of those present didn’t understand garden design, but Ye Yaming explained it clearly, and everyone understood.

Fan Yu said, “In your book ‘Tea Settings,’ you mentioned ‘framing the view,’ saying that the scenery outside the window is like a picture framed by the window lattice, using the artistic conception of the picture to correspond with the artistic conception of the tea setting to highlight the theme. Last winter, I used the snowy scene outside the window to correspond with the tea setting, though in the opposite way.”

He clapped his hands and sighed, “Afterward, I often regretted that the scenery outside the window remained unchanged, with only slight variations as the seasons changed. And a year has only four seasons, so these changes are truly limited. I never imagined that scenery could be created in such a way.”

He asked further, “Which master did you hire to build this garden? I have a garden and would like to invite him to redesign it.”

Ye Yaming turned her head to look at a middle-aged man standing at the back of the crowd and smiled, “It’s this gentleman, Mr. Xia Junchuan.”

“I am Xia Junchuan, at your service, noble ones.” Xia Junchuan stepped forward and bowed.

“Xia Junchuan? Are you the Xia Junchuan who paints quite well?” Tan Xuan asked.

Xia Junchuan immediately became excited and said, “The great master Tan knows of me?”

“Haha, I saw your paintings at a friend’s place. Your landscape paintings are quite good,” Tan Xuan said.

Then he asked curiously, “Aren’t you a provincial graduate? How did you end up building gardens?”

Xia Junchuan seemed somewhat embarrassed: “My family is of modest means. Because I paint landscapes quite well, many wealthy people in Jiangnan who want to build gardens first ask me to paint a picture, then have others build gardens according to the painting.”

Before Tan Xuan could speak, Fan Yu patted his shoulder and said, “Excellent! Mr. Xia, would you help me build a garden too?”

Xia Junchuan’s face reddened further: “The garden being this way isn’t my achievement. I only know how to paint. The ‘concealed views’ and ‘borrowed scenery’ that Madam Lu just mentioned were all proposed by her. These scenery elements…”

He pointed outside the window: “They were all designed by Madam Lu. I dare not take the credit.”

Tan Xuan rapped his fan: “I thought so! I’ve read most books on this subject and never heard of ‘framing views’ or ‘borrowed scenery.'”

He enthusiastically asked Ye Yaming: “Where did Madam Lu’s theories come from?”

Ye Yaming smiled: “They came to me in a dream. But my knowledge is limited and merely theoretical. When it comes to true expertise, there’s no one better than Mr. Xia.”

Then she smiled at Xia Junchuan and said, “Mr. Xia, please don’t be so modest.”

In this era, private garden construction, like garden building in China’s Tang and Song dynasties, was still in the “literati culture” stage, and landscaping methods hadn’t yet formed into systematic theories.

Ye Yaming had no research in garden design; she merely knew a bit from what she had seen and heard in her previous life. If she hadn’t wanted to build such a garden, she would never have mentioned these things to others.

The reason she invited Xia Junchuan today was because she knew that Fan Yu and others, after seeing this garden, would certainly want to investigate. Now, naturally, she wanted to direct Fan Yu and others to Xia Junchuan.

Fan Yu and others had met with Ye Yaming in Lin’an, and the AI Master had boasted to them quite a bit, so they naturally knew what Ye Yaming’s “divine teachings” were all about.

The reason Fan Yu and his wife strongly supported Ye Yaming, apart from her exceptional knowledge and eloquence, was also because of her “extraordinary background.” They all speculated that Ye Yaming was a fairy who tended tea trees beside the Jade Emperor or Queen Mother, who had come to the mortal realm to experience tribulations. So when they saw those self-important common folk putting on airs before Ye Yaming, they found it both amusing and pathetic.

“Let’s set aside Mr. Xia for now. Today I want to hear what Madam Lu has to say,” Fan Yu said enthusiastically. “Let’s go look at another room and see the scenery outside the window.”

Most people in the room were literati and scholars. Seeing how different the views outside these two rooms were, they naturally became interested. They had played with tea settings too much over the past two years, and even though the tea settings here were indeed uniquely arranged, they no longer held much attraction for them. Instead, these landscaping techniques made everyone very curious.

So everyone eagerly agreed, asking Ye Yaming to take them to see each room.

Ye Yaming had no choice but to lead them through each room one by one, letting them appreciate not only the room arrangements and tea setting styles but also the different scenery outside the windows.

Watching Ye Yaming being surrounded like a star among the crowd, speaking confidently, radiating elegance, not showing the slightest discomfort due to the presence of the Princess Imperial and Prince Consort, her bearing and manners no less refined than these royal descendants, Lu Guanyi felt his heart stirring and his eyes dazzled.

Fan Yu’s group, mostly those who had gone to Lin’an to see tea production, had relationships with both Ye Hongsheng and Ye Yaming, and came specially to support the opening today, arriving precisely at the auspicious time.

Besides them, there were naturally others who received invitations but weren’t so punctual. While Ye Yaming was leading everyone to view the rooms, people arrived successively. After inquiring about other guests, they were led by Zhang Tao and Wen Xiu to join the main group.

“Is… is that the Miss Ye from a merchant family?” Looking at Ye Yaming, who was chatting and laughing with Princess Imperial Yüning and others, Princess Ping’yang almost couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Yes, it’s her.” An Jingning’s gaze toward Ye Yaming was quite complex.

Today, Ye Yaming was naturally beautiful. However, her makeup on her wedding day had been very striking, with a captivating beauty that one couldn’t look away from. Today she had changed her makeup, still beautiful but less aggressive, not standing out awkwardly in the crowd, instead highlighting her confident and dignified temperament.

Therefore, An Jingning didn’t feel she was “a completely different person.”

That day, she had been shocked by Ye Yaming’s beauty and felt inferior. Later, she found three books about tea supposedly written by Ye Yaming and was both deeply impressed and suspicious of their origin.

She really couldn’t believe that a woman from a merchant family, at such a young age, could write such books.

And her good friend, Princess Ping’yang, had sworn that these books must have been ghostwritten, that Ye Yaming was taking false credit, and that they must expose her true face. So today, Ping’yang had dragged her along.

But looking at Ye Yaming now, An Jingning suddenly felt that maybe those three books were indeed written by Ye Yaming. Otherwise, how would she dare to speak so freely in front of the two Princesses Imperial? And what she was saying, An Jingning felt she couldn’t understand—it seemed very sophisticated.

Was she truly learned and knowledgeable?

Meanwhile, Princess Imperial Yüning, seeing that the room was getting more and more crowded, stopped Fan Yu: “Enough. You can discuss garden matters with Madam Lu and Mr. Xia later. Today is the teahouse opening, let’s go drink tea first.”